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What Are Dungeon Tiles?

Dungeon tiles are small pieces of material meant to represent various terrain and structures for tabletop roleplaying games. Dungeon tiles traditionally also have a grid incorporated as a portion of the design for the tile to assist measurements in tabletop roleplaying games which encourage usage of grid based play. Dungeon tiles have been a long time supplement to many tabletop role playing games for quite some time. The purpose of dungeon tiles are to add to the immersive experience that your game master attempts to create and to help players visualize exactly what is happening within the game.

Why Should I Use Dungeon Tiles?

Dungeon tiles can serve many purposes, but their primary function is to supplement a description of an area within a game in order to build a more immersive experience while also removing any confusion that may arise from verbal descriptions. The incorporation of dungeon tiles in your tabletop roleplaying games eliminates the issue of players all creating a different mental image of the same described area. Another benefit of including dungeon tiles into your game is the fact they aid with measurements in systems that encourage grid based play.

What Are These Dungeon Tiles Made Of?

These handcrafted dungeon tiles are made out of a type of foam known as Extruded Polystyrene, also called XPS foam. The XPS foam is carved by hand to include intricate designs for cracked stonework in order to simulate stone flooring that would be found in a dungeon. Once the design as been carved into the foam, it is also textured to give an stony appearance. Once the weathered stonework design has been carved into the foam and the stone texture has been applied it is then give a coat of a sealer to protect the foam and to make it more durable. After the sealer is applied, the protected foam is now hand painted to mimic the appearance of stone, resulting in the final product.

How Large Is Each Dungeon Tile?

Each tile measures 3 inches long, by 3 inches wide, by 1 inch tall. This size is optimal for as it easily allows a one inch grid to be uniformly applied to the tile, which is the most common grid size for tabletop roleplaying games. These dimensions also allow for easy storage of the tiles when they are not in current use.

What Do The Dungeon Tiles Look Like?

Here are some close-up images of various tiles:

What Configurations Are Possible With These Tiles?

The sky is pretty much the limit when it comes to these tiles. With just 30 of these tiles there are thousands of possible configurations and arrangements for a variety of dungeon layouts. Here is a GIF which showcases a small portion of the possibilities with 30 or fewer tiles.

What Does The Money Raised For This Kickstarter Go Towards?

The majority of the money raised for this Kickstarter is being invested into tools designed to aid with working with extruded polystyrene foam. Some of the tools that are going to be purchased as a result of this Kickstarter becoming successfully are as follows: A hot wire foam cutter, precision blades, utility blades, measuring implements, and protective material. The remainder of the money involved in this Kickstarter is going towards the purchase of consumable materials such as the foam itself, sealer, brushes, paints, and painting surfaces. In addition to the costs associated with each these tools, Kickstarter and the appropriate payment processors take a cut that is between 8-10% of the total funds raised.

Risks and challenges

The primary risk associated with this project is the delivery time of rewards. Due to the time consuming nature of handcrafted products, as more people back this project, it will take time to produce the tiles for those backers. However, in order to expedite the process of creating these tiles, and to keep delivery of rewards on time, I will be purchasing a machine with the funds gathered by this Kickstarter which allows for foam to be rapidly cut, which will assist in my ability to efficiently produce these tiles. However, I am currently enrolled in college courses, so I will not have constant access to the tools required to produce these tiles. My strategy to combat this is to maximize usage of the time that I have with the required tools during academic breaks in order to produce the dungeon tiles in a timely manner. I do not expect there to be any delays in the production of tiles and I anticipate that I will be able to fulfill and ship all rewards by January without delays. Should any delays or setbacks arise, I will immediately notify all backers of what has happened and what my plans are to rectify the situation.